Methods and apparatus for remote gaming

ABSTRACT

A gaming apparatus may include a display unit capable of generating video images, a first value input device, and a controller operatively coupled to the display unit and the value input device. The first value input device may be located at a first geographic location. The controller may comprise a processor and a memory, and may be programmed to allow a person to make a wager, to cause a first video image to be generated on the display unit, and to determine a first value payout associated with an outcome of a game. The first video image may represent a first game wagered on the first value input device. The controller may also cause a second video image to be generated on the display unit. The second video image may represent a second game wagered on at a second value input device located at a second geographic location different from the first geographic location.

BACKGROUND

This patent is directed to a casino gaming apparatus, which could beeither an individual gaming unit or a casino gaming system having aplurality of gaming units, that is capable of providing a player viewingcapability and control over a game initiated by the player at adifferent location.

Conventional gaming units often allowed a player to wager on, controland view the game initiated at that particular gaming unit. Gamesinitiated at another location were not displayed on the gaming unit orotherwise allowed the player control over the remote game via the gamingunit. That is, a player could not wager on a game at a first locationand view the progress of that game or make further wagers on that gameat a gaming unit at another location. For example, a player who wagerson a conventional multi-player lottery game fills out a card, wagers onchosen numbers and watches a large, public keno display screen to viewthe progress of the keno game, such as what numbers have or have notbeen randomly selected. The player must either stay and watch the kenodisplay screen, or return to the keno display screen periodically tocheck the status of the game (e.g., to see if his numbers were chosen).If the player wants to begin gaming at a gaming unit, which may be at adifferent location and out of sight of the keno display screen, he isunable to view the progress of the keno game or make a further wager onthe keno game without leaving the gaming unit to return to the kenodisplay screen. Sports gaming (e.g., placing a wager on the outcome of ahorse race, baseball game, etc.) can result in similar occurrences. Suchpublic display screens were also not personalized to a particularplayer's gaming decisions and whether the player's gaming decisionscoincided with the outcome of the game.

Some conventional gaming units allowed the player to control the gamingunit remotely using a remote control device similar to those used tocontrol televisions. Other conventional gaming units allowed a player tocontrol gaming from a remote location by using video cameras to transmita picture of the game (e.g., a roulette table, a slot machine, etc.) tothe player's location (e.g., a hotel room). The player could then placewagers by placing a phone call to someone at the location of the gamingunit who would place a wager on behalf of the player.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, the invention is directed to a gaming apparatus that mayinclude a display unit capable of generating video images, a first valueinput device, and a controller operatively coupled to the display unitand the first value input device. The first value input device may belocated at a first geographic location. The controller may comprise aprocessor and a memory, and may be programmed to allow a person to makea wager, cause a first video image representing a first game wagered onat the first value input device to be generated on the display unit,cause a second video image representing a second game wagered on at asecond value input device to be generated on the display unit, and todetermine an outcome of the first game and a first value payoutassociated with the outcome of the game. The second value input devicemay be located at a second geographic location different from the firstgeographic location. The first game may be a single-player game and thesecond game may be a multi-player game.

The first video image may represent one of the following games: videopoker, video blackjack, video slots, video keno and video bingo, inwhich case the first video image may comprise an image of at least fiveplaying cards if the first game comprises video poker; the first videoimage may comprise an image of a plurality of simulated slot machinereels if the first game comprises video slots; the first video image maycomprise an image of a plurality of playing cards if the first gamecomprises video blackjack; the first video image may comprise an imageof a plurality of keno numbers if the first game comprises video keno,and the first video image may comprise an image of a bingo grid if thefirst game comprises video bingo.

The second video image may represent one of the following games: amulti-player lottery and multi-player sports gaming, in which case saidsecond video image may comprise an image of a plurality of lotterynumbers if the second game comprises a multi-player lottery, and saidsecond video image may comprise an image of a sports score if the secondgame comprises multi-player sports gaming. The second video image mayalso comprise an image of a gaming decision made by the person inrelation to the second game.

The controller may further be programmed to allow the person to make awager on the first game and/or the second game using the first valueinput device. The controller may also be programmed to receive a secondvalue payout associated with an outcome of the second game. The secondvalue payout may be determined by a multi-player gaming server. Thecontroller may be programmed to cause the first and second video imagesto be generated concurrently on the display unit. The controller may beprogrammed to receive identification information regarding the personand also receive gaming information regarding the wager on the secondgame using the identification information. The gaming information mayinclude a gaming decision may by the person.

A gaming system may comprise a plurality of interconnected gamingapparatuses that form a first network of gaming apparatuses. A secondnetwork may be operatively coupled to the first network. The secondnetwork may include the second value input device and a multi-playergaming server operatively coupled to the second value input device. Thegaming server may be programmed to allow one or more people to make awager on the second value input device. The people may include theperson. The gaming server may also be programmed to determine the secondvalue payout and to transfer gaming information regarding the secondgame to the controller. The gaming information may include the secondvalue payout and information regarding gaming decisions by said player.

The invention is also directed to a gaming method that may comprisecausing a first video image representing a first game wagered on at afirst geographic location to be generated, determining a first valuepayout associated with an outcome of the first game, and causing asecond video image representing a second game wagered on at a secondgeographic location different from the first geographic location to begenerated.

In another aspect, the invention is directed to a memory that mayinclude a computer program that may be capable of being used inconnection with a gaming apparatus. The memory may comprise a firstmemory portion physically configured in accordance with computer programinstructions that may cause the gaming apparatus to allow a person tomake a wager at a first geographic location with a first value inputdevice; a second memory portion physically configured in accordance withcomputer program instructions that may cause the gaming apparatus tocause a first video image representing a first game to be generated on adisplay unit; a third memory portion physically configured in accordancewith computer program instructions that may cause the gaming apparatusto determine a first value payout associated with an outcome of thefirst game; and a fourth memory portion physically configured inaccordance with computer program instructions that may cause the gamingapparatus to cause a second video image to be generated on the displayunit the second video image may represent a second game wagered on at asecond geographic location with a second value input device. The firstvideo image may represent a first game selected from the group of gameswagered on at the first geographic location, the first group of gamesincluding video poker, video blackjack, video slots, and video bingo, inwhich case the first video image may comprise an image of at least fiveplaying cards if the first game comprises video poker; the first videoimage may comprise an image of a plurality of simulated slot machinereels if the first game comprises video slots; the first video image maycomprise an image of a plurality of playing cards if the first gamecomprises video blackjack; and the first video image may comprise animage of a bingo grid if the first game comprises video bingo.

Additional aspects of the invention are defined by the claims of thispatent.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a gaming system;

FIG. 2 is an illustration of an alternative embodiment of a gamingsystem;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an embodiment of one of the gaming unitsshown schematically in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 3A illustrates an embodiment of a control panel for a gaming unit;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the electronic components of the gamingunit of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a main routine that may beperformed during operation of one or more of the gaming units;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an alternative embodiment of a main routinethat may be performed during operation of one or more of the gamingunits;

FIG. 7 is an illustration of an embodiment of a visual display that maybe displayed during performance of the video poker routine of FIG. 9;

FIG. 8 is an illustration of an embodiment of a visual display that maybe displayed during performance of the video blackjack routine of FIG.10;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a video poker routine that maybe performed by one or more of the gaming units;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a video blackjack routinethat may be performed by one or more of the gaming units;

FIG. 11 is an illustration of an embodiment of a visual display that maybe displayed during performance of the slots routine of FIG. 13;

FIG. 12 is an illustration of an embodiment of a visual display that maybe displayed during performance of the video keno routine of FIG. 14;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a slots routine that may beperformed by one or more of the gaming units;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a video keno routine that maybe performed by one or more of the gaming units;

FIG. 15 is an illustration of an embodiment of a visual display that maybe displayed during performance of the video bingo routine of FIG. 16;

FIG. 16 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a video bingo routine thatmay be performed by one or more of the gaming units;

FIG. 17 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a player tracking routinethat may be performed during operation of one or more of the gamingunits;

FIG. 18 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a registration routine thatmay be performed during operation of one or more of the gaming units;

FIG. 19 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a remote gaming routine thatmay be performed during operation of one or more of the gaming units;

FIG. 20 is an illustration of a first embodiment of a visual displaythat may be displayed during performance of the remote gaming routine ofFIG. 19; and

FIG. 21 is an illustration of a second embodiment of a visual displaythat may be displayed during performance of the remote gaming routine ofFIG. 19.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS EMBODIMENTS

Although the following text sets forth a detailed description ofnumerous different embodiments of the invention, it should be understoodthat the legal scope of the invention is defined by the words of theclaims set forth at the end of this patent. The detailed description isto be construed as exemplary only and does not describe every possibleembodiment of the invention since describing every possible embodimentwould be impractical, if not impossible. Numerous alternativeembodiments could be implemented, using either current technology ortechnology developed after the filing date of this patent, which wouldstill fall within the scope of the claims defining the invention.

It should also be understood that, unless a term is expressly defined inthis patent using the sentence “As used herein, the term ‘______’ ishereby defined to mean.” or a similar sentence, there is no intent tolimit the meaning of that term, either expressly or by implication,beyond its plain or ordinary meaning, and such term should not beinterpreted to be limited in scope based on any statement made in anysection of this patent (other than the language of the claims). To theextent that any term recited in the claims at the end of this patent isreferred to in this patent in a manner consistent with a single meaning,that is done for sake of clarity only so as to not confuse the reader,and it is not intended that such claim term by limited, by implicationor otherwise, to that single meaning. Finally, unless a claim element isdefined by reciting the word “means” and a function without the recitalof any structure, it is not intended that the scope of any claim elementbe interpreted based on the application of 35 U.S.C. § 112, sixthparagraph.

FIG. 1 illustrates one possible embodiment of a casino gaming system 10in accordance with the invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the casino gamingsystem 10 may include a first group or network 12 of casino gaming units20 operatively coupled to a network computer 22 via a network data linkor bus 24. The casino gaming system 10 may include a second group ornetwork 25 of casino gaming units 30 operatively coupled to a networkcomputer 32 via a network data link or bus 34. The first and secondgaming networks 12, 25 may be operatively coupled to each other via anetwork 40, which may comprise, for example, the Internet, a wide areanetwork (WAN), or a local area network (LAN) via a first network link 42and a second network link 44.

The first network 12 of gaming units 20 may be provided in a firstcasino, and the second network 25 of gaming units 30 may be provided ina second casino located in a separate geographic location than the firstcasino. For example, the two casinos may be located in different areasof the same city, or they may be located in different states. Thenetwork 40 may include a plurality of network computers or servercomputers (not shown), each of which may be operatively interconnected.Where the network 40 comprises the Internet, data communication may takeplace over the communication links 42, 44 via an Internet communicationprotocol.

The network computer 22 may be a server computer and may be used toaccumulate and analyze data relating to the operation of the gamingunits 20. For example, the network computer 22 may continuously receivedata from each of the gaming units 20 indicative of the dollar amountand number of wagers being made on each of the gaming units 20, dataindicative of how much each of the gaming units 20 is paying out inwinnings, data regarding the identity and gaming habits of playersplaying each of the gaming units 20, etc. The network computer 32 may bea server computer and may be used to perform the same or differentfunctions in relation to the gaming units 30 as the network computer 22described above.

Although each network 12, 25 is shown to include one network computer22, 32 and four gaming units 20, 30, it should be understood thatdifferent numbers of computers and gaming units may be utilized. Forexample, the network 12 may include a plurality of network computers 22and tens or hundreds of gaming units 20, all of which may beinterconnected via the data link 24. The data link 24 may be provided asa dedicated hardwired link or a wireless link. Although the data link 24is shown as a single data link 24, the data link 24 may comprisemultiple data links.

FIG. 2 illustrates a second possible embodiment of a casino gamingsystem 10 a that permits a player to remotely monitor and wager on aremote multi-player game such as a lottery game or sports gaming bymultiple players on a sporting event. The casino gaming system 10 a maybe modeled similar to the casino gaming system 110 described above withreference to FIG. 1. Although the following description addresses theuse of a network 12 a of gaming units 20, it should be understood thatthe network 14 of gaming units 30 may have the same design as or bemodified to resemble the network 12 a described below. The network 14 ofgaming units 30 may replace the first network 12 a or be operativelycoupled to the first network 12 a, as referred to above.

Referring to FIG. 2, the casino gaming system 10 a may include a firstgroup or network 12 a of casino gaming units 20 (only one of which isshown) operatively coupled to a network computer 22 a via a network datalink or bus 24 a. The casino gaming system 10 a may include amulti-player gaming network 50 that includes a multi-player gamingcontroller 52, one or more input terminals or control panels 54 and amulti-player gaming display 56 operatively coupled to a multi-playergaming server 58 via a network data link or bus 59. The networks 12 a,50 may be operatively coupled to each other via a network or bridge 40a, which may comprise, for example, the Internet, a wide area network(WAN), or a local area network (LAN) via a first network link 42 a and asecond network link 46. The network links 42 a, 46 may be provided as adedicated hardwired link or a wireless link, and may further be providedas an Ethernet link, low-speed serial link, LAN, WAN, etc. Although thenetwork links 42 a, 46 are shown as single network links, each networklink 42 a, 46 may comprise multiple data links. The network links 42 a,46 may be configured for various communications protocol, such as theExtensible Mark-up Language (XML).

As with the first and second networks 12, 14 described above, thenetwork 12 a of gaming units 20 may be provided in a first casino at afirst geographic location, and the multi-player gaming network 50 may beprovided in a second casino located in a separate geographic location.Alternatively, the networks 12 a, 50 may be provided in the same casino,though remotely from each other such as in different geographiclocations including different rooms, different floors, different areasof the same room, etc. The network 40 a may include a plurality ofnetwork computers or server computers (not shown), each of which may beoperatively interconnected. Where the bridge 40 a comprises theInternet, data communication may take place over the communication links42 a, 46 via an Internet communication protocol.

The network computer 22 a may be a server computer or a plurality ofserver computers including a player tracking server 26. As with thenetwork computer 22 above, the network computer 22 a may be used toaccumulate and analyze data relating to the operation of the gamingunits 20. For example, the network computer 22 a may continuouslyreceive data from each of the gaming units 20 indicative of the dollaramount and number of wagers being made on each of the gaming units 20,data indicative of how much each of the gaming units 20 is paying out inwinnings, etc. Using the player tracking server 26, the network computer22 a may accumulate, analyze and store data regarding player informationincluding the identity and gaming habits of players playing each of thegaming units 20, wager amounts, number of wagers, player's gamingdecisions (e.g., game number selections), etc. and assign a uniqueplayer identification to identify the player with the player data.

A player tracking unit 26 a may also be included in each gaming unit 20which may read a player's identification when inputted into the gamingunit 20 and request player information from the player tracking server26. The player tracking server 26 may validate the player'sidentification, associate the player's identification with any wagersmade for a multi-player game and provide the player data to the playertracking unit 26 a. The player's identification may be associated with awager on a multi-player game by associating the player identificationwith a unique ticket identification identifying a ticket issued with awager on a remote multi-player game. The ticket may include paper oranother printable or encodable material. In addition to the ticketidentification, the ticket may include the casino name, the name of themulti-player game, the particular multi-player game being wagered on, avalidation number, security data and any other information that may benecessary or desirable.

Player tracking units 26 b, 26 c may be provided as stand-alone devices,including a kiosk 21 or a handheld device 23. Each may be provided witha display and a control panel to remotely monitor and wager on a remotemulti-player game. A handheld device may include any portable electronicdevice such as a laptop computer, a personal digital assistant, acellular phone and the like. While the following description willprimarily discuss a gaming unit 20 comprising a player tracking unit 26a, it should be understood that the functions of the player trackingunit 26 a may likewise be applied to the player tracking units 26 b, 26c. In many cases, aspects of the gaming unit 20 described below may beapplicable to the kiosk 21 and handheld device 23, such as eachincluding a value input device such as a coin slot or acceptor, a papercurrency acceptor, a ticket reader/printer and/or a card reader, whichmay be used to input value to the kiosk 21 or handheld device 23. Avalue input device may include any device that can accept value from acustomer which may also include entering an account number and personalidentification number for electronic funds transfer. As used herein, theterm “value” may encompass gaming tokens, coins, paper currency, ticketvouchers, credit or debit cards, smart cards, electronic funds and anyother object representative of value. However, unlike the gaming unit 20the kiosk 21 and handheld devices 23 may or may not include routines forvideo poker, video blackjack, slots, video keno, video bingo or othergaming routines that are executed by the controller 100 described below,but rather be dedicated devices for remotely monitoring and wagering onremote multi-player games.

The bridge 40 a may be used to facilitate communication between thefirst network 12 a and the multi-player gaming network 50. Inparticular, the bridge 40 a may transmit queries and requests from theplayer tracking server 26 to the multi-player gaming server 58. In turn,the multi-player gaming server 58 may provide information in response tothe request. The information may relate to wagers a player may haveplaced at one of the input terminals 54 for a multi-player game,including the number and amount of the wagers, the player's gamingdecisions, and the ticket identification. The bridge 40 a may further beused to act as a translator or intermediary between the two networks 12a, 50, if the networks 12 a, 50 operate using different communicationprotocols.

The multi-player gaming controller 52 may include a random numbergenerator for randomly selecting game numbers from a range of gamenumbers. The random number generator may be pseudo-random numbergenerator embodied in a software routine executed by the multi-playergaming controller 52, or the random number generator may be a mechanicalinstrument such as a rotating drum containing a number of objects, suchas balls, each being associated with one of the game numbers from therange of game numbers. The rotation of the drum may randomly shuffle theobjects therein such that the selection of any object is random. Themulti-player gaming controller 52 may be part of the multi-player gamingserver 58 or in some instances may not be used at all. For example, withsports betting, a payout may be based on the sporting event itself andnot on a random number generator, though the multi-player gamingcontroller 52 may be used to calculate the odds on a particular outcomeof the sporting event. The odds may be continuously updated based onupdated data (e.g., an athlete's health) and displayed as a payouttable.

The input terminal 54 may be used by the player as a value input deviceto place a wager and may be located remotely from the gaming units 20,the kiosks 21, the handheld devices 23 or any other device with a playertracking unit 26 a, 26 b, 26 c, such as in a different floor, adifferent room, a different area of a room, a different casino, etc. Theinput terminal 54 may include a coin slot or acceptor, a paper, currencyacceptor, a ticket reader/printer and a card reader similar to thosedescribed below with a gaming unit 20, and which may be used to inputvalue to the input terminal 54. The wager may be on a multi-player gamesuch as a sporting event, a lottery game, etc. The player may use theinput terminal 54 to register for a multi-player game using the playeridentification, designate the amount of the wager, select a sportingevent and outcome of the sporting event, or select game numbers from arange of available game numbers for a lottery game. For example, thelottery game may have game numbers ranging from 1-100. The player mayselect a plurality of game numbers from the range of game numbers orpredict an outcome of a sporting event using the input terminal 54 priorto the start of a sporting event or the drawing of a lottery game. Thequantity of selected game numbers may be dependent on the amount of thewager and the particular lottery rules being used. In one example, themulti-player gaming controller 52 may randomly select the game numbersor sporting event outcome on behalf of the player. The selected gamenumbers or selected sporting event outcome may be printed on a ticketand dispensed by the input terminal 54, along with a ticketidentification assigned by the multi-player gaming server 58 to identifythe wager. In some cases, the player may place a wager with an attendantwho would enter the player's gaming decisions (e.g., game numbersselections) into the input terminal, enter the wager and provide theplayer with a ticket. A card reader, similar to the card reader 64described below, may be used to encode the player's registration, thewager, the player's gaming decisions and the ticket identification on aplayer identification device. The input terminal 54 may include aprocessor and a memory to compare the results of the multi-player game(e.g., the randomly selected numbers or the outcome of the sportingevent) to the gaming decisions by the player and determine a payout.

The multi-player gaming display 56 may be used to display multi-playergaming information regarding the sporting event or lottery game beingwagered on. For a sporting event, the multi-player gaming display 56 mayinclude a video image of the status of the sporting event (e.g., ascore) and the final outcome of the sporting event. The multi-playergaming display 56 may further include a real-time or near real-timevideo of the actual sporting event. For a lottery game, the multi-playergaming display 56 may include a video image of a plurality of gamenumbers in a grid pattern representing the range of game numbers for thelottery game. The multi-player gaming display 56 may further display therandomly-selected game numbers' by highlighting the randomly-selectedgame numbers from among the range of game numbers or otherwisedistinguish the randomly-selected numbers from the range of gamenumbers. For example, the randomly-selected game numbers 12, 36, 52, 58,76, and 82 have been highlighted on the multi-player gaming display 56to be distinguished from the remaining game numbers. The multi-playergaming display 56 may be located near an input terminal 54 and remotelyfrom the gaming units 20, such as in a different floor, a differentroom, a different area of a room, a different casino, etc.

The multi-player gaming server 58 may be a network server computerassociated with a game played on the multi-player gaming network 50. Forexample, the multi-player gaming server 58 may be a keno or otherlottery server, a sports betting server, etc. and may be used to performthe same or different functions in relation to the gaming units 30 asthe network computer 22 described above. The multi-player gaming server58 may be used in relation to a single multi-player game, such as alottery game where multiple players wager on the same lottery game, or asporting event where multiple players wager on the outcome of the samesporting event. The multi-player gaming server 58 may be used toassociate a ticket identification with a player's wager including aplayer's gaming decisions (e.g., selection of game numbers or sportingevent outcome) following the player's wager and registration at an inputterminal 54. The ticket identification may be a form of indicia orencoding, including an alphanumeric code, a barcode, a magnetic code, anoptical code, a watermark, an electronic code embedded in a memory chip,etc. The player's gaming decisions may be represented on a ticket heldby the player, and the ticket identification may be encoded on theticket, including printing the ticket identification on the ticket. Aplayer tracking device, such as a player tracking card, may encode thisinformation on the player tracking device. The multi-player gamingserver 58 may further be used to track the ticket via the ticketidentification, including verification of the ticket if the playerredeems the ticket to receive a payout. Using the ticket identification,the multi-player gaming server 58 may identify which tickets includegame numbers that match a sufficient number of the randomly selectedgame numbers to merit a payout. However, this may also be performed bythe input terminal 54 or in conjunction with the input terminal 54 wherethe input terminal dispenses a payout or credits the player's accountwith the payout. The amount of the payout may be dependent on the numberof matches between the game numbers selected by the player and therandomly-selected game numbers. The multiplayer gaming server 58 mayalso associate the ticket identification, wager information, etc. withthe player identification from the registration process.

Although the first network 12 a is shown to include one server 22 a withone player tracking server 26, one gaming unit 20 with a player trackingunit 26 a, one kiosk 21 with a player tracking unit 26 b and onehandheld device 26 c, it should be understood that different numbers ofservers, player tracking servers, gaming units, kiosks, handheld devicesand player tracking units may be utilized. For example, the network 12 amay include a plurality of tracking servers 26 and tens or hundreds ofgaming units 20, kiosks and handheld devices, some or all of which mayhave a player tracking unit 26 a, 26 b, 26 c, and all of which may beinterconnected via the data link 42 a. Likewise, the multi-player gamingnetwork 50 may include different numbers of multi-player gamingcontrollers 52, input terminals 54, display screens 56, and multi-playergaming servers 58.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of one possible embodiment of one or moreof the gaming units 20. Although the following description addresses thedesign of the gaming units 20, it should be understood that the gamingunits 30 may have the same design as the gaming units 20 describedbelow. It should be understood that the design of one or more of thegaming units 20 may be different than the design of other gaming units20, and that the design of one or more of the gaming units 30 may bedifferent than the design of other gaming units 30. Each gaming unit 20may be any type of casino gaming unit and may have various differentstructures and methods of operation. For exemplary purposes, variousdesigns of the gaming units 20 are described below, but it should beunderstood that numerous other designs may be utilized.

Referring to FIG. 3, the casino gaming unit 20 may include a housing orcabinet 60 and one or more input devices, which may include a coin slotor acceptor 61, a paper currency acceptor 62, a ticket reader/printer 63and a card reader 64, which may be used to input value to the gamingunit 20. If provided on the gaming unit 20, the ticket reader/printer 63may be used to read and/or print or otherwise encode ticket vouchers 65.The ticket vouchers 65 may be composed of paper or another printable orencodable material and may have one or more of the followinginformational items printed or encoded thereon: the casino name, thetype of ticket voucher, a validation number, a bar code with controland/or security data, the date and time of issuance of the ticketvoucher, redemption instructions and restrictions, a description of anaward, and any other information that may be necessary or desirable.Different types of ticket vouchers 65 could be used, such as bonusticket vouchers, cash-redemption ticket vouchers, casino chip ticketvouchers, extra game play ticket vouchers, merchandise ticket vouchers,restaurant ticket vouchers, show ticket vouchers, etc. The ticketvouchers 65 could be printed with an optically readable material such asink, or data on the ticket vouchers 65 could be magnetically encoded.The ticket reader/printer 63 may be provided with the ability to bothread and print ticket vouchers 65, or it may be provided with theability to only read or only print or encode ticket vouchers 65. In thelatter case, for example, some of the gaming units 20 may have ticketprinters 63 that may be used to print ticket vouchers 65, which couldthen be used by a player in other gaming units 20 that have ticketreaders 63.

If provided, the card reader 64 may include any type of card readingdevice, such as a magnetic card reader or an optical card reader, andmay be used to read data from a card offered by a player, such as acredit card or a player tracking card. If provided for player trackingpurposes, the card reader 64 may be used to read data from, and/or writedata to, player tracking cards that are capable of storing datarepresenting the identity of a player, the identity of a casino, theplayer's gaming habits, etc.

The gaming unit 20 may include one or more audio speakers 66, a coinpayout tray 67, an input control panel 68, and a color video displayunit 70 for displaying images relating to the game or games provided bythe gaming unit 20. The audio speakers 66 may generate audiorepresenting sounds such as the noise of spinning slot machine reels, adealer's voice, music, announcements or any other audio related to acasino game. The input control panel 68 may be provided with a pluralityof pushbuttons or touch-sensitive areas that may be pressed by a playerto select games, make wagers, make gaming decisions, etc.

FIG. 3A illustrates one possible embodiment of the control panel 68,which may be used where the gaming unit 20 is a slot machine having aplurality of mechanical or “virtual” reels. Referring to FIG. 3A, thecontrol panel 68 may include a “See Pays” button 72 that, whenactivated, causes the display unit 70 to generate one or more displayscreens showing the odds or payout information for the game or gamesprovided by the gaming unit 20. As used herein, the term “button” isintended to encompass any device that allows a player to make an input,such as an input device that must be depressed to make an inputselection or a display area that a player may simply touch. The controlpanel 68 may include a “Cash Out” button 74 that may be activated when aplayer decides to terminate play on the gaming unit 20, in which casethe gaming unit 20 may return value to the player, such as by returninga number of coins to the player via the payout tray 67.

If the gaming unit 20 provides a slots game having a plurality of reelsand a plurality of paylines which define winning combinations of reelsymbols, the control panel 68 may be provided with a plurality ofselection buttons 76, each of which allows the player to select adifferent number of paylines prior to spinning the reels. For example,five buttons 76 may be provided, each of which may allow a player toselect one, three, five, seven or nine paylines.

If the gaming unit 20 provides a slots game having a plurality of reels,the control panel 68 may be provided with a plurality of selectionbuttons 78 each of which allows a player to specify a wager amount foreach pay line selected. For example, if the smallest wager accepted bythe gaming unit 20 is a quarter ($0.25), the gaming unit 20 may beprovided with five selection buttons 78, each of which may allow aplayer to select one, two, three, four or five quarters to wager foreach pay line selected. In that case, if a player were to activate the“5” button 76 (meaning that five paylines were to be played on the nextspin of the reels) and then activate the “3” button 78 (meaning thatthree coins per pay line were to be wagered), the total wager would be$3.75 (assuming the minimum bet was $0.25).

The control panel 68 may include a “Max Bet” button 80 to allow a playerto make the maximum wager allowable for a game. In the above example,where up to nine paylines were provided and up to five quarters could bewagered for each pay line selected, the maximum wager would be 45quarters, or $11.25. The control panel 68 may include a spin button 82to allow the player to initiate spinning of the reels of a slots gameafter a wager has been made.

In FIG. 3A, a rectangle is shown around the buttons 72, 74, 76, 78, 80,82. It should be understood that that rectangle simply designates, forease of reference, an area in which the buttons 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 82may be located. Consequently, the term “control panel” should not beconstrued to imply that a panel or plate separate from the housing 60 ofthe gaming unit 20 is required, and the term “control panel” mayencompass a plurality or grouping of player activatable buttons.

Although one possible control panel 68 is described above, it should beunderstood that different buttons could be utilized in the control panel68, and that the particular buttons used may depend on the game or gamesthat could be played on the gaming unit 20. Although the control panel68 is shown to be separate from the display unit 70, it should beunderstood that the control panel 68 could be generated by the displayunit 70. In that case, each of the buttons of the control panel 68 couldbe a colored area generated by the display unit 70, and some type ofmechanism may be associated with the display unit 70 to detect when eachof the buttons was touched, such as a touch-sensitive screen.

Gaming Unit Electronics

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a number of components that may beincorporated in the gaming unit 20. However, as mentioned above, manyaspects of the gaming unit 20 may be included in the kiosk 21 andhandheld devices 23. The following description of the controller 100electronics may be equally applicable to the kiosk 21 and handhelddevice 23, as will be recognized by those or ordinary skill in the art.Referring to FIG. 4, the gaming unit 20 may include a controller 100that may comprise the player tracking unit 26 a, a program memory 102, amicrocontroller or microprocessor (MP) 104, a random-access memory (RAM)106 and an input/output (I/O) circuit 108, all of which may beinterconnected via an address/data bus 110. It should be appreciatedthat although only one microprocessor 104 is shown, the controller 100may include multiple microprocessors 104. Similarly, the memory of thecontroller 100 may include multiple RAMs 106 and multiple programmemories 102. Although the I/O circuit 108 is shown as a single block,it should be appreciated that the I/O circuit 108 may include a numberof different types of I/O circuits. The RAM(s) 104 and program memories102 may be implemented as semiconductor memories, magnetically readablememories, and/or optically readable memories, for example.

Although the program memory 102 is shown in FIG. 4 as a read-only memory(ROM) 102, the program memory of the controller 100 may be a read/writeor alterable memory, such as a hard disk. In the event a hard disk isused as a program memory, the address/data bus 110 shown schematicallyin FIG. 4 may comprise multiple address/data buses, which may be ofdifferent types, and there may be an I/O circuit disposed between theaddress/data buses.

FIG. 4 illustrates that the control panel 68, the coin acceptor 61, thebill acceptor 62, the card reader 64 and the ticket reader/printer 63may be operatively coupled to the I/O circuit 108, each of thosecomponents being so coupled by either a unidirectional or bidirectional,single-line or multiple-line data link, which may depend on the designof the component that is used. The speaker(s) 66 may be operativelycoupled to a sound circuit 112, that may comprise a voice- andsound-synthesis circuit or that may comprise a driver circuit. Thesound-generating circuit 112 may be coupled to the I/O circuit 108.

As shown in FIG. 4, the components 61, 62, 63, 64, 68, 112 may beconnected to the I/O circuit 108 via a respective direct line orconductor. Different connection schemes could be used. For example, oneor more of the components shown in FIG. 4 may be connected to the I/Ocircuit 108 via a common bus or other data link that is shared by anumber of components. Furthermore, some of the components may bedirectly connected to the microprocessor 104 without passing through theI/O circuit 108.

Overall Operation of Gaming Unit

One manner in which one or more of the gaming units 20 (and one or moreof the gaming units 30) may operate is described below in connectionwith a number of flowcharts which represent a number of portions orroutines of one or more computer programs, which may be stored in one ormore of the memories of the controller 100. The computer program(s) orportions thereof may be stored remotely, outside of the gaming unit 20,and may control the operation of the gaming unit 20 from a remotelocation. Such remote control may be facilitated with the use of awireless connection, or by an Internet interface that connects thegaming unit 20 with a remote computer (such as one of the networkcomputers 22, 32) having a memory in which the computer program portionsare stored. Additionally, the computer program(s) or portions thereofmay control the operation of the multi-player gaming server 58 and aninput terminal 54 from a remote location such as the gaming unit 20, akiosk 21 or handheld device 23. Such remote control may be facilitatedwith the use of a wireless connection, or my an Internet interface thatconnects the player tracking unit 26 a (or the player tracking units 26b, 26 c) with the multi-player gaming server 58, the input terminal 54or the multi-player gaming network 50 generally. The computer program.,portions may be written in any high level language such as C, C++, C#,Java or the like or any low-level assembly or machine language. Bystoring the computer program portions therein, various portions of thememories 102, 106 are physically and/or structurally configured inaccordance with computer program instructions.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a main operating routine 200 that may be storedin the memory of the controller 100. Referring to FIG. 5, the mainroutine 200 may begin operation at block 202 during which an attractionsequence may be performed in an attempt to induce a potential player ina casino to play the gaming unit 20. The attraction sequence may beperformed by displaying one or more video images on the display unit 70and/or causing one or more sound segments, such as voice or music, to begenerated via the speakers 66. The attraction sequence may include ascrolling list of games that may be played on the gaming unit 20 and/orvideo images of various games being played, such as video poker, videoblackjack, video slots, video keno, video bingo, etc.

During performance of the attraction sequence, if a potential playermakes any input to the gaming unit 20 as determined at block 204, theattraction sequence may be terminated and a player identificationroutine may be initiated at block 205 to identify the player, retrieveplayer information from the player tracking server 26 and determine if aremote multi-player game should be displayed and controlled from thegaming unit 20. The gaming unit 20 may detect an input at block 204 invarious ways. For example, the gaming unit 20 could detect if the playerpresses any button on the gaming unit 20; the gaming unit 20 coulddetermine if the player deposited one or more coins into the gaming unit20; the gaming unit 20 could determine if player deposited papercurrency into the gaming unit; etc.

The player identification routine 205 may prompt the player to enter theplayer identification by inserting a player tracking card into the cardreader 64, entering the player identification using the control panel 68or otherwise reading the player's identification from the playeridentification device. The player identification routine 205 may promptthe player tracking unit 26 a to request player information from theplayer tracking server 26 including remote multi-player gaminginformation. Following the player identification routine 205, agame-selection display may be generated on the display unit 70 at block206 to allow the player to select a game available on the gaming unit20.

The game-selection display generated at block 206 may include, forexample, a list of video games that may be played on the gaming unit 20and/or a visual message to prompt the player to deposit value into thegaming unit 20. While the game-selection display is generated, thegaming unit 20 may wait for the player to make a game selection. Uponselection of one of the games by the player as determined at block 208,the controller 100 may cause one of a number of game routines to beperformed to allow the selected game to be played. For example, the gameroutines could include a video poker routine 210, a video blackjackroutine 220, a slots routine 230, a video keno routine 240, and a videobingo routine 250. The game routines may be single-player games playableby only one player at a time, which may be the player positioned at thegaming unit 20. At block 208, if no game selection is made within agiven period of time, the operation may branch back to block 202.

After one of the routines 210, 220, 230, 240, 250 has been performed toallow the player to play one of the games, block 260 may be utilized todetermine whether the player wishes to terminate play on the gaming unit20 or to select another game. If the player wishes to stop playing thegaming unit 20, which wish may be expressed, for example, by selecting a“Cash Out” button, the controller 100 may dispense value to the playerat block 262 based on the outcome of the game(s) played by the player.The operation may then return to block 202. If the player did not wishto quit as determined at block 260, the routine may return to block 208where the game-selection display may again be generated to allow theplayer to select another game.

It should be noted that although five gaming routines are shown in FIG.5, a different number of routines could be included to allow play of adifferent number of games. The gaming unit 20 may also be programmed toallow play of different games.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an alternative main operating routine 300 thatmay be stored in the memory of the controller 100. The main routine 300may be utilized for gaming units 20 that are designed to allow play ofonly a single game or single type of game. Referring to FIG. 6, the mainroutine 300 may begin operation at block 302 during which an attractionsequence may be performed in an attempt to induce a potential player ina casino to play the gaming unit 20. The attraction sequence may beperformed by displaying one or more video images on the display unit 70and/or causing one or more sound segments, such as voice or music, to begenerated via the speakers 66. During performance of the attractionsequence, if a potential player makes any input to the gaming unit 20 asdetermined at block 304, the attraction sequence may be terminated and aplayer identification routine may be initiated at block 305.

The player identification routine 305 may prompt the player to enter theplayer identification by inserting a player tracking card into the cardreader 64, entering the player identification using the control panel 68or otherwise reading the player's identification from the playeridentification device. The player identification routine 205 may promptthe player tracking unit 26 a to request player information from theplayer tracking server 26 including remote multi-player gaminginformation. Following the player identification routine 305, agame-selection display may be generated on the display unit 70 at block306.

The game display generated at block 306 may include, for example, animage of the casino game that may be played on the gaming unit 20 and/ora visual message to prompt the player to deposit value into the gamingunit 20. At block 308, the gaming unit 20 may determine if the playerrequested information concerning the game, in which case the requestedinformation may be displayed at block 310. Block 312 may be used todetermine if the player requested initiation of a game, in which case agame routine 320 may be performed. The game routine 320 could be any oneof the game routines disclosed herein, such as one of the five gameroutines 210, 220, 230, 240, 250, or another game routine.

After the routine 320 has been performed to allow the player to play thegame, block 322 may be utilized to determine whether the player wishesto terminate play on the gaming unit 20. If the player wishes to stopplaying the gaming unit 20, which wish may be expressed, for example, byselecting a “Cash Out” button, the controller 100 may dispense value tothe player at block 324 based on the outcome of the game(s) played bythe player. The operation may then return to block 302. If the playerdid not wish to quit as determined at block 322, the operation mayreturn to block 308.

Video Poker

FIG. 7 is an exemplary display 350 that may be shown on the display unit70 during performance of the video poker routine 210 shown schematicallyin FIG. 5. Referring to FIG. 7, the display 350 may include video images352 of a plurality of playing cards representing the player's hand, suchas five cards. To allow the player to control the play of the videopoker game, a plurality of player-selectable buttons may be displayed.The buttons may include a “Hold” button 354 disposed directly below eachof the playing card images 352, a “Cash Out” button 356, a “See Pays.”button 358, a “Bet One Credit” button 360, a “Bet Max Credits” button362, and a “Deal/Draw” button 364. The display 350 may also include anarea 366 in which the number of remaining credits or value is displayed.If the display unit 70 is provided with a touch-sensitive screen, thebuttons 354, 356, 358, 360, 362, 364 may form part of the video display350. Alternatively, one or more of those buttons may be provided as partof a control panel that is provided separately from the display unit 70.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the video poker routine 210 shown schematicallyin FIG. 5. Referring to FIG. 9, at block 370, the routine may determinewhether the player has requested payout information, such as byactivating the “See Pays” button 358, in which case at block 372 theroutine may cause one or more pay tables to be displayed on the displayunit 70. At block 374, the routine may determine whether the player hasmade a bet, such as by pressing the “Bet One Credit” button 360, inwhich case at block 376 bet data corresponding to the bet made by theplayer may be stored in the memory of the controller 100. At block 378,the routine may determine whether the player has pressed the “Bet MaxCredits” button 362, in which case at block 380 bet data correspondingto the maximum allowable bet may be stored in the memory of thecontroller 100.

At block 382, the routine may determine if the player desires a new handto be dealt, which may be determined by detecting if the “Deal/Draw”button 364 was activated after a wager was made. In that case, at block384 a video poker hand may be “dealt” by causing the display unit 70 togenerate the playing card images 352. After the hand is dealt, at block386 the routine may determine if any of the “Hold” buttons 354 have beenactivated by the player, in which case data regarding which of theplaying card images 352 are to be “held” may be stored in the controller100 at block 388. If the “Deal/Draw” button 364 is activated again asdetermined at block 390, each of the playing card images 352 that wasnot “held” may be caused to disappear from the video display 350 and tobe replaced by a new, randomly selected, playing card image 352 at block392.

At block 394, the routine may determine whether the poker handrepresented by the playing card images 352 currently displayed is awinner. That determination may be made by comparing data representingthe currently displayed poker hand with data representing all possiblewinning hands, which may be stored in the memory of the controller 100.If there is a winning hand, a payout value corresponding to the winninghand may be determined at block 396. At block 398, the player'scumulative value or number of credits may be updated by subtracting thebet made by the player and adding, if the hand was a winner, the payoutvalue determined at block 396. The cumulative value or number of creditsmay also be displayed in the display area 366 (FIG. 7).

Although the video poker routine 210 is described above in connectionwith a single poker hand of five cards, the routine 210 may be modifiedto allow other versions of poker to be played. For example, seven cardpoker may be played, or stud poker may be played. Alternatively,multiple poker hands may be simultaneously played. In that case, thegame may begin by dealing a single poker hand, and the player may beallowed to hold certain cards. After deciding which cards to hold, theheld cards may be duplicated in a plurality of different poker hands,with the remaining cards for each of those poker hands being randomlydetermined.

Video Blackjack

FIG. 8 is an exemplary display 400 that may be shown on the display unit70 during performance of the video blackjack routine 220 shownschematically in FIG. 5. Referring to FIG. 8, the display 400 mayinclude video images 402 of a pair of playing cards representing adealer's hand, with one of the cards shown face up and the other cardbeing shown face down, and video images 404 of a pair of playing cardsrepresenting a player's hand, with both the cards shown face up. The“dealer” may be the gaming unit 20.

To allow the player to control the play of the video blackjack game, aplurality of player-selectable buttons may be displayed. The buttons mayinclude a “Cash Out” button 406, a “See Pays” button 408, a “Stay”button 410, a “Hit” button 412, a “Bet One Credit” button 414, and a“Bet Max Credits” button 416. The display 400 may also include an area418 in which the number of remaining credits or value is displayed. Ifthe display unit 70 is provided with a touch-sensitive screen, thebuttons 406, 408, 410, 412, 414, 416 may form part of the video display400. Alternatively, one or more of those buttons may be provided as partof a control panel that is provided separately from the display unit 70.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the video blackjack routine 220 shownschematically in FIG. 5. Referring to FIG. 10, the video blackjackroutine 220 may begin at block 420 where it may determine whether a bethas been made by the player. That may be determined, for example, bydetecting the activation of either the “Bet One Credit” button 414 orthe “Bet Max Credits” button 416. At block 422, bet data correspondingto the bet made at block 420 may be stored in the memory of thecontroller 100. At block 424, a dealer's hand and a player's hand may be“dealt” by making the playing card images 402, 404 appear on the displayunit 70.

At block 426, the player may be allowed to be “hit,” in which case atblock 428 another card will be dealt to the player's hand by makinganother playing card image 404 appear in the display 400. If the playeris hit, block 430 may determine if the player has “bust,” or exceeded21. If the player has not bust, blocks 426 and 428 may be performedagain to allow the player to be hit again.

If the player decides not to hit, at block 432 the routine may determinewhether the dealer should be hit. Whether the dealer hits may bedetermined in accordance with predetermined rules, such as the dealeralways hit if the dealer's hand totals 15 or less. If the dealer hits,at block 434 the dealer's hand may be dealt another card by makinganother playing card image 402 appear in the display 400. At block 436the routine may determine whether the dealer has bust. If the dealer hasnot bust, blocks 432, 434 may be performed again to allow the dealer tobe hit again.

If the dealer does not hit, at block 436 the outcome of the blackjackgame and a corresponding payout may be determined based on, for example,whether the player or the dealer has the higher hand that does notexceed 21. If the player has a winning hand, a payout valuecorresponding to the winning hand may be determined at block 440. Atblock 442, the player's cumulative value or number of credits may beupdated by subtracting the bet made by the player and adding, if theplayer won, the payout value determined at block 440. The cumulativevalue or number of credits may also be displayed in the display area 418(FIG. 8).

Slots

FIG. 11 is an exemplary display 450 that may be shown on the displayunit 70 during performance of the slots routine 230 shown schematicallyin FIG. 5. Referring to FIG. 11, the display 450 may include videoimages 452 of a plurality of slot machine reels, each of the reelshaving a plurality of reel symbols 454 associated therewith. Althoughthe display 450 shows five reel images 452, each of which may have threereel symbols 454 that are visible at a time, other reel configurationscould, be utilized.

To allow the player to control the play of the slots game, a pluralityof player-selectable buttons may be displayed. The buttons may include a“Cash Out” button 456, a “See Pays” button 458, a plurality of payline-selection buttons 460 each of which allows the player to select adifferent number of paylines prior to “spinning” the reels, a pluralityof bet-selection buttons 462 each of which allows a player to specify awager amount for each pay line selected, a “Spin” button 464, and a “MaxBet” button 466 to allow a player to make the maximum wager allowable.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of the slots routine 230 shown schematically inFIG. 11. Referring to FIG. 13, at block 470, the routine may determinewhether the player has requested payout information, such as byactivating the “See Pays” button 458, in which case at block 472 theroutine may cause one or more pay tables to be displayed on the displayunit 70. At block 474, the routine may determine whether the player haspressed one of the pay line-selection buttons 460, in which case atblock 476 data corresponding to the number of paylines selected by theplayer may be stored in the memory of the controller 100. At block 478,the routine may determine whether the player has pressed one of thebet-selection buttons 462, in which case at block 480 data correspondingto the amount bet per pay line may be stored in the memory of thecontroller 100. At block 482, the routine may determine whether theplayer has pressed the “Max Bet” button 466, in which case at block 484bet data (which may include both pay line data and bet-per-pay linedata) corresponding to the maximum allowable bet may be stored in thememory of the controller 100.

If the “Spin” button 464 has been activated by the player as determinedat block 486, at block 488 the routine may cause the slot machine reelimages 452 to begin “spinning” so as to simulate the appearance of aplurality of spinning mechanical slot machine reels. At block 490, theroutine may determine the positions at which the slot machine reelimages will stop, or the particular symbol images 454 that will bedisplayed when the reel images 452 stop spinning. At block 492, theroutine may stop the reel images 452 from spinning by displayingstationary reel images 452 and images of three symbols 454 for eachstopped reel image 452. The virtual reels may be stopped from left toright, from the perspective of the player, or in any other manner orsequence.

The routine may provide for the possibility of a bonus game or round ifcertain conditions are met, such as the display in the stopped reelimages 452 of a particular symbol 454. If there is such a bonuscondition as determined at block 494, the routine may proceed to block496 where a bonus round may be played. The bonus round may be adifferent game than slots, and many other types of bonus games could beprovided. If the player wins the bonus round, or receives additionalcredits or points in the bonus round, a bonus value may be determined atblock 498. A payout value corresponding to outcome of the slots gameand/or the bonus round may be determined at block 500. At block 502, theplayer's cumulative value or number of credits may be updated bysubtracting the bet made by the player and adding, if the slot gameand/or bonus round was a winner, the payout value determined at block500.

Although the above routine has been described as a virtual slot machineroutine in which slot machine reels are represented as images on thedisplay unit 70, actual slot machine reels that are capable of beingspun may be utilized instead.

Video Keno

FIG. 12 is an exemplary display 520 that may be shown on the displayunit 70 during performance of the video keno routine 240 shownschematically in FIG. 5. Referring to FIG. 12, the display 520 mayinclude a video image 522 of a plurality of numbers that were selectedby the player prior to the start of a keno game and a video image 524 ofa plurality of numbers randomly selected during the keno game. Therandomly selected numbers may be displayed in a grid pattern.

To allow the player to control the play of the keno game, a plurality ofplayer-selectable buttons may be displayed. The buttons may include a“Cash Out” button 526, a “See Pays” button 528, a “Bet One Credit”button 530, a “Bet Max Credits” button 532, a “Select Ticket” button534, a “Select Number” button 536, and a “Play” button 538. The display520 may also include an area 540 in which the number of remainingcredits or value is displayed. If the display unit 70 is provided with atouch-sensitive screen, the buttons may form part of the video display520. Alternatively, one or more of those buttons may be provided as partof a control panel that is provided separately from the display unit 70.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of the video keno routine 240 shown schematicallyin FIG. 5. The keno routine 240 may be utilized in connection with asingle gaming unit 20 where a single player is playing a keno game, orthe keno routine 240 may be utilized in connection with multiple gamingunits 20 where multiple players are playing a single keno game. In thelatter case, one or more of the acts described below may be performedeither by the controller 100 in each gaming unit or by one of thenetwork computer 22, 32 to which multiple gaming units 20 areoperatively connected.

Referring to FIG. 14, at block 550, the routine may determine whetherthe player has requested payout information, such as by activating the“See Pays” button 528, in which case at block 552 the routine may causeone or more pay tables to be displayed on the display unit 70. At block554, the routine may determine whether the player has made a bet, suchas by having pressed the “Bet One Credit” button 530 or the “Bet MaxCredits” button 532, in which case at block 556 bet data correspondingto the bet made by the player may be stored in the memory of thecontroller 100. After the player has made a wager, at block 558 theplayer may select a keno ticket, and at block 560 the ticket may bedisplayed on the display 520. At block 562, the player may select one ormore game numbers, which may be within a range set by the casino. Afterbeing selected, the player's game numbers may be stored in the memory ofthe controller 100 at block 564 and may be included in the image 522 onthe display 520 at block 566. After a certain amount of time, the kenogame may be closed to additional players (where a number of players areplaying a single keno game using multiple gambling units 20).

If play of the keno game is to begin as determined at block 568, atblock 570 a game number within a range set by the casino may be randomlyselected either by the controller 100 or a central computer operativelyconnected to the controller, such as one of the network computers 22,32. At block 572, the randomly selected game number may be displayed onthe display unit 70 and the display units 70 of other gaming units 20(if any) which are involved in the same keno game. At block 574, thecontroller 100 (or the central computer noted above) may increment acount which keeps track of how many game numbers have been selected atblock 570.

At block 576, the controller 100 (or one of the network computers 22,32) may determine whether a maximum number of game numbers within therange have been randomly selected. If not, another game number may berandomly selected at block 570. If the maximum number of game numbershas been selected, at block 578 the controller 100 (or a centralcomputer) may determine whether there are a sufficient number of matchesbetween the game numbers selected by the player and the game-numbersselected at block 570 to cause the player to win. The number of matchesmay depend on how many numbers the player selected and the particularkeno rules being used.

If there are a sufficient number of matches, a payout may be determinedat block 580 to compensate the player for winning the game. The payoutmay depend on the number of matches between the game numbers selected bythe player and the game numbers randomly selected at block 570. At block582, the player's cumulative value or number of credits may be updatedby subtracting the bet made by the player and adding, if the keno gamewas won, the payout value determined at block 580. The cumulative valueor number of credits may also be displayed in the display area 540 (FIG.12).

Video Bingo

FIG. 15 is an exemplary display 600 that may be shown on the displayunit 70 during performance of the video bingo routine 250 shownschematically in FIG. 5. Referring to FIG. 15, the display 600 mayinclude one or more video images 602 of a bingo card and images of thebingo numbers selected during the game. The bingo card images 602 mayhave a grid pattern.

To allow the player to control the play of the bingo game, a pluralityof player-selectable buttons may be displayed. The buttons may include a“Cash Out” button 604, a “See Pays” button 606, a “Bet One Credit”button 608, a “Bet Max Credits” button 610, a “Select Card” button 612,and a “Play” button 614. The display 600 may also include an area 616 inwhich the number of remaining credits or value is displayed. If thedisplay unit 70 is provided with a touch-sensitive screen, the buttonsmay form part of the video display 600. Alternatively, one or more ofthose buttons may be provided as part of a control panel that isprovided separately from the display unit 70.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart of the video bingo routine 250 shownschematically in FIG. 5. The bingo routine 250 may be utilized inconnection with a single gaming unit 20 where a single player is playinga bingo game, or the bingo routine 250 may be utilized in connectionwith multiple gaming units 20 where multiple players are playing asingle bingo game. In the latter case one or more of the acts describedbelow may be performed either by the controller 100 in each gaming unit20 or by one of the network computers 22, 32 to which multiple gamingunits 20 are operatively connected.

Referring to FIG. 16, at block 620, the routine may determine whetherthe player has requested payout information, such as by activating the“See Pays” button 606, in which case at block 622 the routine may causeone or more pay tables to be displayed on the display unit 70. At block624, the routine may determine whether the player has made a bet, suchas by having pressed the “Bet One Credit” button 608 or the “Bet MaxCredits” button 610, in which case at block 626 bet data correspondingto the bet made by the player may be stored in the memory of thecontroller 100.

After the player has made a wager, at block 628 the player may select abingo card, which may be generated randomly. The player may select morethan one bingo card, and there may be a maximum number of bingo cardsthat a player may select. After play is to commence as determined atblock 632, at block 634 a bingo number may be randomly generated by thecontroller 100 or a central computer such as one of the networkcomputers 22, 32. At block 636, the bingo number may be displayed on thedisplay unit 70 and the display units 70 of any other gaming units 20involved in the bingo game.

At block 638, the controller 100 (or a central computer) may determinewhether any player has won the bingo game. If no player has won, anotherbingo number may be randomly selected at block 634. If any player hasbingo as determined at block 638, the routine may determine at block 640whether the player playing that gaming unit 20 was the winner. If so, atblock 642 a payout for the player may be determined. The payout maydepend on the number of random numbers that were drawn before there wasa winner, the total number of winners (if there was more than oneplayer), and the amount of money that was wagered on the game. At block644, the player's cumulative value or number of credits may be updatedby subtracting the bet made by the player and adding, if the bingo gamewas won, the payout value determined at block 642. The cumulative valueor number of credits may also be displayed in the display area 616 (FIG.15).

Player Identification

FIG. 17 is a flowchart of a player identification routine 205 shownschematically in FIG. 5 and may be used to determine whether to displaythe remote multi-player game and allow the player to control the remotemulti-player game from the gaming unit 20. The following description ofthe player identification routine 205 may likewise be applied to theplayer identification routine 305 of FIG. 6. The player identificationroutine 205 may be stored in a memory of the controller 100 and executedby the player tracking unit 26 a. Referring to FIG. 17, the playeridentification routine 205 may begin operation at block 702 during whicha player's identification may be validated. The player identificationroutine 205 may cause the player tracking unit 26 a to issue a requestto the player tracking server 26 to compare the player's identificationto a list of player identifications stored by the player tracking server26. The player tracking server 26 may transmit a result to the playertracking unit 26 a as to whether the player identification matches oneof those stored by the player tracking server 26. The player'sidentification may be encoded on a player identification device whichmay be in the form of a player tracking card such as a magnetic oroptical card including credit cards or a card issued by a casino througha gaming unit 20, an input terminal, an attendant, etc. The playeridentification device may also be a radio-wave device such as a memorydevice coupled with a transceiver worn or carried by the player, orother wireless devices including cellular phones, personal digitalassistants, etc. The player's identification may be the playeridentification as assigned by the player tracking server 26 which may bea unique alphanumeric code, a binary code, etc. The playeridentification may also be the player's name, credit card number, socialsecurity number, etc. The player identification may be read by thegaming unit 20 using an identification reader such as radio transceiver,optical transceiver, card reader 64, control panel 68, or any otherdevice capable of reading player identification information encoded onthe player identification device. The player may also enter the playeridentification using the control panel 68. If the player identificationdoes not match one of those stored by the player tracking server 26,control may loop back to recheck the player identification or the playeridentification device may be rejected by the gaming unit 20: If theplayer identification is valid, control may pass to block 704.

Once the player identification is validated at block 702, the playeridentification routine 205 may determine if the player has registered atan input terminal 54 as a player of a remote multi-player game such as asporting event or lottery game at block 704. The identification routine205 may determine if the player is registered by determining whether theplayer has made a wager on a sporting event or lottery game using theinput terminal 54. The player tracking unit 26 a may submit a requestwith the player identification, as read at block 702, to the playertracking server 26 to retrieve registration information. The playertracking server 26 may in turn submit a request to the multi-playergaming server 58 via the bridge 40 a to see if the player has registeredfor a remote multi-player game at one of the input terminals 54. Theplayer may also be prompted to input a ticket into the ticket reader 64which may read the ticket identification. The player tracking unit 26 a,player tracking server 26, and multi-player gaming server 58 may use theticket identification to search for matching registration profiles. Ifthe player identification is associated with a registration profile askept by the multi-player gaming server 58, control may pass to block 706to display the remote multi-player game and display options for theplayer.

If the player is not registered as determined at block 704, control maypass to a registration routine at block 708 to register the player for aremote multi-player game. Following the registration routine 708, theplayer identification routine 205 may again determine whether the playeris registered as a player of a remote multi-player game at block 710. Ifthe player is not registered, control may pass to block 712 for theplayer tracking card to be removed or for the gaming unit 20 to promptthe player with a visual message to remove the player tracking card, logoff the gaming unit 20 or otherwise disengage from the gaming unit 20.The player identification routine 205 may continue to loop until thecard or player identification is removed. Once the card is removed, asdetermined at block 712, control may pass back to block 702 to validateanother player identification. Alternatively, the player may be allowedto continue playing a game on the gaming unit 20 such as the video pokerroutine 210, the video blackjack routine 220, the slots routine 230, thevideo keno routine 240 and the video bingo routine 250.

If the player identification routine 205 determines that the playerregistered for a remote multi-player game either at block 704 or block710, control may pass to a remote gaming routine at block 706 fordisplay of the remote multi-player game, and options for controllingregarding the remote multi-player game. Following the remote gamingroutine 706, control may pass to block 712 for the card to be removed orthe player may be allowed to continue with one of the gaming routines210, 220, 230, 240, 250.

Registration

FIG. 18 is a flowchart of the registration routine 708 shownschematically in FIG. 17. The registration routine 708 may be performedby the player tracking unit 26 a as part of the player identificationroutine 205 or by an input terminal 54 when placing a wager on a remotemulti-player game at an input terminal 54. Beginning at block 802, theplayer may be prompted with a visual message to register or decline toregister for a remote multi-player game. During the prompt at block 802,if the player makes any input to the gaming unit 20 or input terminal 54as determined at block 804, the visual message may be terminated. If theplayer input at block 804 is to decline to register for the remotemulti-player game, control may pass to block 806 where a determinationis made that the player declined to register. The registration routine708 may then exit at block 808 and return to the player identificationroutine 205. If the registration is taking place at the input terminal54, the player may be allowed to continue placing a wager on the remotemulti-player game without registering though the player may not bepermitted to view a display of or control the remote multi-player gamefrom the gaming unit 20.

If the player input at block 804 is to register for the remotemulti-player game, control may pass to block 810 for the player toregister for the remote multi-player game. The player may enterinformation including the player identification and the ticketidentification. The player tracking unit 26 a may also read the playeridentification from the player identification device. Using the playeridentification, the player tracking unit 26 a may retrieve playerinformation from the player tracking server 26 at block 812. The playertracking server 26 may supply all or part of the player informationstored by the player tracking server 26. Among the player informationsupplied by the player tracking server 26 may be information regardingthe remote multi-player games that the player has wagered on. Using theplayer identification and/or the ticket identification, the playertracking server 26 may submit a request to the multi-player gamingserver 58 via the bridge 40 a for information regarding wagers made bythe player, including the player selections, the amount of the wager,etc. This information may be transmitted back to the player trackingunit 26 a via the player tracking server 26. Once the player informationhas been received by the player tracking unit 26 a, the registrationroutine 708 may exit and pass control to the remote gaming routine 706.

Remote Game Play

FIG. 19 is a flowchart of the remote gaming routine 706 shownschematically in FIG. 17. The remote gaming routine 706 may be performedby the player tracking unit 26 a as part of the player identificationroutine 205. Beginning at block 902, a two-way information link may beestablished between the gaming unit 20 and the multi-player gamingserver 58 for updating information concerning multi-player games wageredon by the player. The link may initially be established by having theplayer tracking unit 26 a request player information from the playertracking server 26, which may include having the player tracking server26 retrieve multi-player gaming information from the multi-player gamingserver 58 via the bridge 40 a. The multi-player gaming information mayinclude wagers made by the player for a multi-player game, the amount ofthe wagers, the player's selections, etc. The information link may alsosupply updated information concerning the multi-player game. Forexample, with a sporting event, the status of the sporting event (e.g.,a score) may be supplied and updated as the sporting event progresses.For a lottery game, the multi-player gaming information may include therandomly-selected game numbers selected by the multi-player gamingcontroller 52, including the randomly-selected game numbers as they areselected.

Once the multi-player gaming information has been retrieved and a linkestablished to update the multi-player gaming information, control maypass to block 904 and a menu display may be generated on the displayunit 70 to allow the player to select one of the remote multi-playergaming options being displayed. The menu display may include, forexample, an option to play favorite gaming selections 908 (e.g., aplayer's favorite game numbers for a lottery), an option to download theplayer's credits from previous payouts 910, an option to place a newwager on a remote multi-player game or initiate a new remotemulti-player game 912, view multi-player gaming information of anexisting remote multi-player game in progress 914, or an option to exitthe menu display 916. A selection of one of the menu options may be madeby a player input at block 904 and detected at block 906 in variousways, including pressing any button on the gaming unit 20. Following theexecution of any of the menu options at blocks 908, 910, 912, 914,control may pass back to block 904 to display the menu options again.

A player selection of the option to play favorite gaming selections atblock 906 may pass control to block 908. For example, the player'sfavorite gaming numbers, as stored by the player tracking server 26 anddownloaded by the player tracking unit 26 a, for a remote lottery gamemay be transmitted to the multi-player gaming network 50. The player maybe permitted to specify the amount of the new wager. A new wager maythereby automatically be placed on the lottery game using the player'sfavorite game numbers. The multi-player gaming server 58 may store thefavorite game numbers, the amount of the wager and assign a ticketidentification to the wager. A ticket may be printed by the ticketreader/printer 63 with the player's favorite game numbers, wager amountand the ticket identification. For a sporting event, a new wager mayautomatically be placed on the sporting event using a player's favoriteteam, player, etc.

A player selection of the option to download the player's credits atblock 906 may pass control to block 910. The player's credits may bedownloaded from the multi-player gaming server 58 and/or the playertracking server 26. The player credits may relate to an accountestablished by the player prior to placing any wagers or as a result ofreceiving any payouts from previous wagers on the remote multi-playergame. Prior to downloading the player credits, the player may beprompted with a visual display at block 918 to enter further playeridentification information, such as a predetermined personalidentification number (PIN) established when the player registered forthe remote multi-player game. If the player identification informationis determined to be valid at block 918, control may pass to block 920where the player's credits may be transferred from the multi-playergaming server 58 to the gaming unit 20. The downloaded player creditsmay be combined with existing player credits from previous payouts forgames played locally on the gaming unit 20 such as from the video pokerroutine 210, the video blackjack routine 220, the slots routine 230, thevideo keno routine 240 and the video bingo routine 250. The combinedcredits may be used to place further wagers on a remote multi-playergame and on locally played games. Alternatively, the downloaded playercredits may be maintained separately from existing credits and used onlyto place wagers on remote multi-player games. If the playeridentification information is determined to not be valid at block 918,control may pass back to block 904 to generate the menu display. Theplayer credits from remote multi-player games in progress may beautomatically downloaded as payouts from the remote multi-player gamesoccur.

A player selection of the option to initiate a new wager or new game atblock 906 may pass control to block 912. The player may be presentedwith a visual display of the remote multi-player games available,including various multi-player lottery games, sporting events, payouttables, and any other information that may normally be provided to theplayer at an input terminal 54, on the multi-player gaming display 56,etc. prior to placing a wager. Alternatively, the player may bepresented with the option of placing a new wager for a multi-player gamethat the player has previously registered for. The player may be allowedto make player selections such as an outcome of a sporting event, gamenumbers for a lottery, etc., and the amount of the wager. The player'sgaming selections and the wager amount may be transmitted to themulti-player gaming server 58, where the wager is stored and associatedwith the player registration information. The multi-player gaming server58 may assign a ticket identification which may be transmitted back tothe gaming unit 20. The player tracking server 26 may likewise storethis information as part of the player information. The gaming unit 20may issue a ticket using the ticket reader/printer 63 with the player'sselections, wager amount and the ticket identification.

A player selection of the option to view information regarding existingremote multi-player games in progress at block 906 may pass control toblock 912. The information may be downloaded from the multi-playergaming server 58 in conjunction with the multi-player gaming controller52. A visual display may be generated on the display unit 70 of remotemulti-player games in progress that the player has previously wagered onsuch as a sporting event or lottery game. The visual display may includethe same information provided on the multi-player gaming display 56regarding the existing remote multi-player game. This may include arange of a video image of the status of a sporting event (e.g., a score)and the final outcome of the sporting event, real-time or near real-timevideo of the actual sporting event. For a lottery game, visual displaymay include a video image of a plurality of game numbers in a gridpattern representing the range of game numbers for the lottery game, therandomly-selected game numbers, etc., including updates of therandomly-selected game numbers are they are selected. In addition, thevisual display generated at block 914 may include a representation ofthe player's selections for the remote multi-player game.

A player selection of the option to exit the display menu at block 906may pass control to block 916. The remote gaming routine 706 may thenterminate and the information link with the multi-player gaming server58 may likewise be terminated. Control may be returned to the playeridentification routine 205.

FIGS. 20 and 21 are exemplary displays 1000, 1100 that may be shown onthe display unit 70 during performance of the remote gaming routine 706shown schematically in FIG. 19. The displays 1000, 1100 may be generatedon the display unit 70 in response to player selection of the option toview information regarding-existing remote multi-player games inprogress at block 912. Referring to FIG. 20, the display 1000 mayinclude a video image 1002 of the remote multi-player game in progress.In the present example, the video image 1002 may be a video image of aremote multi-player lottery game in progress. As mentioned above, thevideo image 1002 of the remote multi-player lottery game may include thesame information provided on the multi-player gaming display 56regarding the existing remote multi-player game, such as the pluralityof game numbers in a grid pattern and the randomly-selected gamenumbers. The randomly-selected game numbers may be highlighted todistinguish them from non-selected game numbers. For example, therandomly-selected game numbers 12, 36, 52, 58, 76, and 82 have beenhighlighted to be distinguished from the remaining game numbers. Thevideo display 1002 may be updated as new randomly-selected game numbersare selected. Unlike the multi-player gaming display 56, the video image1002 may include the player's gaming selections for the remotemulti-player game. For example, the player selected game numbers 12, 24,43, 52, 76, and 82 for a remote multi-player lottery game arehighlighted or otherwise distinguished from both the randomly-selectedgame numbers and the remaining game numbers. If one or more of theplayer selected game numbers and the randomly-selected game numbers arethe same, they may be highlighted separately to distinguish them fromall remaining numbers. In the present example, the game numbers 12, 52,76 and 82 have been highlighted to distinguish them from the remainingplayer selected game numbers, the remaining randomly-selected gamenumbers and the remaining game numbers. In the case of a sporting event,the team, player, etc. involved in the sporting event that the playerwagered on may be highlighted from the remaining teams, players, etc.The specific team, player, etc. that the player wagered on may behighlighted to be distinguished from the remaining teams, players, etc.even further. In the case of wagering on a specific score, spread, etc.,the score of the sporting event may be highlighted in a particular coloror otherwise distinguished to indicate that the player's prediction ofthe score, spread, etc. as it stands will result in a payout. Forexample, if the player has wagered that a football game will have aspread of 6 points, if the current score is within 6 points, the videoimage of the score may be highlighted in a particular manner to indicatethe same.

To allow the player to control the play of the remote multi-player game,a plurality of player-selectable buttons may be displayed. The buttonsmay include some or all of the options presented with the display menuat block 904. The buttons may include a “Play Favorites” button 1004, a“Download Credits” button 1006, a “New Wager/New Game” button 1008, a“View New Game” button 1010, a “Select Ticket” button 1012, and an“Exit” button 1014. Additional buttons may include a “Cash Out” button1016, a “See Pays” button 1018, a “Bet One” button 1020, a “Bet MaxCredits” button 1022, and a “Select Number” button 1024. The display1000 may also include an area 1026 in which the number of remainingcredits or value is displayed. The number of remaining credits or valuemay relate to the credits or value for the remote multi-player gamebeing viewed or all credits/value held by the player for all wagers,games, etc. A further button or buttons 1028 may be provided to allowthe player to control the size of the video display 1000, which mayinclude minimizing the size of the video display 1000, closing the videodisplay 1000 and resizing the video display 1000. If the display unit 70is provided with a touch-sensitive screen, the buttons 1004, 1006, 1008,1010, 1012, 1014, 1016, 1018, 1020, 1022, 1024, 1028 may form part ofthe video display 1000. Alternatively, one or more of those buttons maybe provided as part of a control panel that is provided separately fromthe display unit 70.

Referring to FIG. 21, the display 1100 may include a video display 1102of the remote multi-player game in progress. In the present example, thevideo display 1102 includes an area 1104 in which the status of asporting event is shown. The area 1104 may include a highlight of theteam that currently has the lead in the sporting event (e.g., Team A)and a second highlight of the team wagered on by the player (e.g., TeamB). The area 1104 may be used to display any status informationregarding the sporting event (e.g., the current leader in a race, ascore, time left, an inning, etc.). The video display 1102 may include asecond area 1106 which displays a real time or near real time videoimage of the sporting event in progress. The video display 1102 may bedisplayed as a full size image using one of the buttons 1028 a, thoughin the present example, the video display 1102 has been resized using abutton 1028 similar to that shown in FIG. 20 such that the video display1102 may be displayed in conjunction with a display 450 being shownduring performance of the slots routine 230. Likewise, the video display1000 may be resized to be displayed in conjunction with a gamecontrolled by the gaming unit 20, and the video display 1102 may beresized to be the only video display being shown using buttons 1028 a.If the video display 1102 is resized to be the only video display on thedisplay unit 70, as with the video display 1000, the video display 1102may include the buttons 1004, 1006, 1008, 1010, 1012, 1014, 1016, 1018,1020, 1022, 1028 and the area 1026 as shown in FIG. 20. Either videodisplay 1000, 1102 may be displayed concurrently with a display of anyother game routines controlled by the gaming unit 20, including thedisplays 350, 400, 520, 600 of the video poker routine 210, the videoblackjack routine 220, the video keno routine 240 and the video bingoroutine 250 respectively. The display 450 may include all of the samebuttons, areas and video images as discussed above to allow the playercontrol over the game routine being wagered on locally at the gamingunit 20.

1. A gaming apparatus, comprising: a display unit that is capable ofgenerating video images; a first value input device located at a firstgeographic location; a controller operatively coupled to said displayunit and said first value input device, said controller comprising aprocessor and a memory operatively coupled to said processor, saidcontroller being programmed to allow a person to make a wager, saidcontroller being programmed to cause a first video image representing afirst game to be generated on said display unit, said first video imagerepresenting one of the following games wagered on said first valueinput device: video poker, video blackjack, video slots, video keno orvideo bingo, said first video image comprising an image of at least fiveplaying cards if said first game comprises video poker, said first videoimage comprising an image of a plurality of simulated slot machine reelsif said first game comprises video slots, said first video imagecomprising an image of a plurality of playing cards if said first gamecomprises video blackjack, said first video image comprising an image ofa plurality of keno numbers if said first game comprises video keno, andsaid first video image comprising an image of a bingo grid if said firstgame comprises video bingo, said controller being programmed todetermine a first value payout associated with an outcome of said firstgame, said controller being programmed to cause a second video image tobe generated on said display unit, said second video image representinga second game wagered on by said person at a second value input devicelocated at a second geographic location different from said firstgeographic location, said second video image representing one of thefollowing games wagered on said second value input device: amulti-player lottery or a multi-player sports game, said second videoimage comprising an image of a plurality of lottery numbers if saidsecond game comprises a multi-player lottery, and said second videoimage comprising an image of a sports score if said second gamecomprises multi-player sports gaming.
 2. A gaming apparatus as definedin claim 1, wherein said controller is programmed to allow said personto make a wager on at least one of said first game and said second gameusing said first value input device.
 3. A gaming apparatus as defined inclaim 1, wherein said controller is programmed to receive datarepresenting a second value payout associated with an outcome of saidsecond game, said second value payout data being determined by amulti-player gaming server.
 4. A gaming apparatus as defined in claim 1,wherein said controller is programmed to cause said first and secondvideo images to be generated concurrently on said display unit.
 5. Agaming apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said first game is asingle-player game.
 6. A gaming apparatus as defined in claim 1, whereinsaid controller is programmed to receive identification informationregarding said person, said controller being programmed to receivegaming information regarding said wager on said second game using saididentification information, wherein said gaming information includes agaming decision made by said person.
 7. A gaming apparatus as defined inclaim 1, wherein said second video image comprises an image of a gamingdecision made by said person in relation to said second game.
 8. Agaming system comprising a plurality of gaming apparatuses as defined inclaim 1, said gaming apparatuses being interconnected to form a firstnetwork of gaming apparatuses.
 9. A gaming system as defined in claim 8,further comprising a second network operatively coupled to said firstnetwork, said second network comprising: said second value input devicelocated at said second geographic location; and a multi-player gamingserver operatively coupled to said second value input device, saidgaming server being programmed to allow one or more people includingsaid person to make a wager on said second value input device, saidgaming server being programmed to determine said second value payout,and said gaming server being programmed to transfer gaming informationregarding said second game to said controller, said gaming informationincluding data representing said second value payout, and informationregarding gaming decisions by said person for said second game.
 10. Agaming apparatus, comprising: a display unit that is capable ofgenerating video images; a first value input device located at a firstgeographic location; a controller operatively coupled to said displayunit and said first value input device, said controller comprising aprocessor and a memory operatively coupled to said processor, saidcontroller being programmed to allow a person to make a wager, saidcontroller being programmed to cause a first video image to be generatedon said display unit, said first video image representing a first gamewagered on said first value input device, said controller beingprogrammed to determine a first value payout associated with an outcomeof said first game represented by said first video image, and saidcontroller being programmed to cause a second video image to begenerated on said display unit, said second video image representing asecond game wagered on by said person at a second value input devicelocated at a second geographic location different from said firstgeographic location.
 11. A gaming apparatus as defined in claim 10,wherein said controller is programmed to allow said person to make awager on at least one of said first game and said second game using saidfirst value input device.
 12. A gaming apparatus as defined in claim 10,wherein said controller is programmed to receive data representing asecond value payout associated with an, outcome of said second game,said second value payout data being determined by a multi-player gamingserver.
 13. A gaming apparatus as defined in claim 10, wherein saidcontroller is programmed to cause said first and second video images tobe generated concurrently on said display unit.
 14. A gaming apparatusas defined in claim 10, wherein said first game is a single-player gameand said second game is a multi-player game.
 15. A gaming apparatus asdefined in claim 10, wherein said second video image represents one ofthe following games: a multi-player lottery or multi-player sportsgaming, said second video image comprising an image of a plurality oflottery numbers if said second game comprises a multi-player lottery,and said second video image comprising an image of a sports score ifsaid second game comprises multi-player sports gaming.
 16. A gamingapparatus as defined in claim 10, wherein said controller is programmedto receive identification information regarding said person, and saidcontroller being programmed receive gaming information regarding saidwager on said second game using said identification information, whereinsaid gaming information includes a gaming decision made by said person.17. A gaming apparatus as defined in claim 10, wherein said second videoimage comprises an image of a gaming decision made by said person inrelation to said second game.
 18. A gaming system comprising a pluralityof gaming apparatuses as defined in claim 10, said gaming apparatusesbeing interconnected to form a first network of gaming apparatuses. 19.A gaming system as defined in claim 18, further comprising a secondnetwork operatively coupled to said first network, said second networkcomprising: said second value input device located at said secondgeographic location; and a multi-player gaming server operativelycoupled to said second value input device, said gaming server beingprogrammed to allow one or more people including said person to make awager on said second value input device, said gaming server beingprogrammed to determine said second value payout, and said gaming serverbeing programmed to transfer gaming information regarding said secondgame to said controller, said gaming information including datarepresenting said second value payout, and information regarding gamingdecisions by said person for said second game.
 20. A gaming system asdefined in claim 19, wherein said gaming apparatuses are interconnectedvia the Internet.
 21. A gaming apparatus, comprising: a display unitthat is capable of generating video images; a first value input devicelocated at a first geographic location; a controller operatively coupledto said display unit and said first value input device, said controllercomprising a processor and a memory operatively coupled to saidprocessor, said controller being programmed to receive identificationinformation regarding a person, said controller being programmed receivegaming information regarding a wager on a game using said identificationinformation, wherein said gaming information includes a gaming decisionmade by said person, and said controller being programmed to cause avideo image to be generated on said display unit, said video imagerepresenting said game wagered on by said person at a second value inputdevice located at a second geographic location different from said firstgeographic location, said video image comprising a gaming decision madeby said person.
 22. A gaming apparatus as defined in claim 21, whereinsaid video image represents one of the following games: a lottery orsports gaming, said video image comprising an image of a plurality ofnumbers if said game comprises a lottery, and said video imagecomprising an image of a score of a sports game.
 23. A gaming apparatusas defined in claim 21, wherein said controller is programmed to allowsaid person to make a wager on said game using said first value inputdevice.
 24. A gaming apparatus as defined in claim 21, wherein saidcontroller is programmed to receive data representing a value payoutassociated with an outcome of said game, said value payout data beingdetermined by a multi-player gaming server.
 25. A gaming apparatus asdefined in claim 21, wherein said game is a multi-player game.
 26. Agaming apparatus, comprising: a display unit that is capable ofgenerating video images; a first value input device located at a firstgeographic location; a controller operatively coupled to said displayunit and said first value input device, said controller comprising aprocessor and a memory operatively coupled to said processor, saidcontroller being programmed to allow a person to make a wager, saidcontroller being programmed to allow said person to make a paylineselection, said controller being programmed to cause a first video imagerepresenting a first game to be generated on said display unit, saidfirst video image comprising a plurality: of simulated slot machinereels of a slots game, each of said slot machine reels having aplurality of slot machine symbols, said controller being programmed todetermine a first value payout associated with an outcome of said slotsgame, said controller being programmed to determine said outcome of saidslots game based on a configuration of said slot machine symbols, andsaid controller being programmed to cause a second video image to begenerated on said display unit, said second video image representing asecond game wagered on by said person at a second value input devicelocated at a second geographic location different from said firstgeographic location.
 27. A gaming apparatus as defined in claim 26,wherein said controller is programmed to allow said person to make awager on at least one of said slots game and said second game using saidfirst value input device.
 28. A gaming apparatus as defined in claim 26,wherein said controller is programmed to receive data representing asecond value payout associated with an outcome of said second game, saidsecond value payout data being determined by a multi-player gamingserver.
 29. A gaming apparatus as defined in claim 26, wherein saidsecond video image represents one of the following games: a multi-playerlottery or multi-player sports gaming, said second video imagecomprising an image of a plurality of lottery numbers if said secondgame comprises a multi-player lottery, and said second video imagecomprising an image of a sports score if said second game comprisesmulti-player sports gaming.
 30. A gaming apparatus as defined in claim26, wherein said controller is programmed to receive identificationinformation regarding said person, and said controller being programmedreceive gaming information regarding said wager on said second gameusing said identification information, wherein said gaming informationincludes a gaming decision made by said person.
 31. A gaming methodcomprising: causing a first video image representing a first game to begenerated, said first video image representing one of the followinggames wagered on at a first geographic location: video poker, videoblackjack, video slots, video keno or video bingo, said first videoimage comprising an image of at least five playing cards if said gamecomprises video poker, said first video image comprising an image of aplurality of simulated slot machine reels if said game comprises videoslots, said first video image comprising an image of a plurality ofplaying cards if said game comprises video blackjack, said first videoimage comprising an image of a plurality of keno numbers if said gamecomprises video keno, and said first video image comprising an image ofa bingo grid if said game comprises video bingo; determining a firstvalue payout associated with an outcome of said first game representedby said first video image; and causing a second video image to begenerated, said second video image representing a second game wagered onby a person at a second geographic location different from said firstgeographic location, said second video image representing one of thefollowing multi-player games: a multi-player lottery game ormulti-player sports gaming.
 32. A gaming method as defined in claim 31,comprising receiving data representing a second value payout associatedwith an outcome of said second game.
 33. A gaming method as defined inclaim 31, comprising: receiving identification information regardingsaid person; and receiving gaming information regarding said wager onsaid second game using said identification information, wherein saidgaming information includes a gaming decision made by said person.
 34. Agaming method as defined in claim 31, comprising causing said secondvideo image representing said second game to be generated, wherein saidsecond video image comprises an image of a gaming decision made by saidperson in relation to said second game.
 35. A gaming method as definedin claim 31, comprising causing said second video image representingsaid second game to be generated, wherein said second video imagecomprises an image of a plurality of lottery numbers if said second gamecomprises a multi-player lottery, and said second video image comprisesan image of a sports score if said second game comprises multi-playersports gaming.
 36. A gaming method as defined in claim 31, comprisingsaid first video image and said second video image to be generatedconcurrently.
 37. A memory having a computer program stored therein,said computer program being capable of being used in connection with agaming apparatus, said memory comprising: a first memory portionphysically configured in accordance with computer program instructionsthat would cause the gaming apparatus to allow a person to make a wagerat a first geographic location with a first value input device; a secondmemory portion physically configured in accordance with computer programinstructions that would cause the gaming apparatus to cause a firstvideo image representing a first game to be generated on a display unit,said first video image representing one of the following games wageredon at said first geographic location: video poker, video blackjack,video slots, video keno or video bingo, said first video imagecomprising an image of at least five playing cards if said first gamecomprises video poker, said first video image comprising an image of aplurality of simulated slot machine reels if said first game comprisesvideo slots, said first video image comprising an image of a pluralityof playing cards if said first game comprises video blackjack, saidfirst video image comprising an image of a plurality of keno numbers ifsaid first game comprises video keno, and said first video imagecomprising an image of a bingo grid if said first game comprises videobingo, a third memory portion physically configured in accordance withcomputer program instructions that would cause the gaming apparatus todetermine a first value payout associated with an outcome of said gamerepresented by said first video image, and a fourth memory portionphysically configured in accordance with computer program instructionsthat would cause the gaming apparatus to cause a second video image tobe generated on said display unit, said second video image representinga second game wagered on at a second geographic location with a secondvalue input device.
 38. A memory as defined in claim 37, wherein saidmemory additionally comprises: a fifth memory portion physicallyconfigured in accordance with computer program instructions that wouldcause the gaming apparatus to receive identification informationregarding said person; and a sixth memory portion physically configuredin accordance with computer program instructions that would cause thegaming apparatus to receiving gaming information regarding said wager onsaid second game using said identification information, wherein saidgaming information includes a gaming decision made by said person.
 39. Amemory as defined in claim 37, wherein said memory additionallycomprises a fifth memory portion physically configured in accordancewith computer program instructions that would cause the gaming apparatusto receive data representing a second value payout associated with anoutcome of said second game, said second value payout data beingdetermined by a multi-player gaming server.